1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for connecting by pressure contact terminals to insulated conductors of a flat or multicore multiconductor cable.
2. Prior Art
As electronic equipment has become more compact in recent years, flat or multicore cables or connectors used for them have similarly become more compact. For example, the interval of conductors of a flat cable is relatively easy to reduce to 2.54 mm, but the interval of contact terminals arranged along a terminal strip has been larger (for example 5.08 mm) than that of the conductors so as to assure satisfactory contact spring force when the contact terminals are stamped out of a metal sheet.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-36,316 discloses a method and apparatus for connecting by pressure a contact terminal of a terminal strip to an end of a flat cable. However, in this method, whenever one conductor of a flat cable is connected to one contact terminal, the flat cable must be moved laterally by one conductor interval for connecting the next conductor. As a result, the prior connecting apparatus must repeat the same number of connecting operations as that of conductors of a flat cable and is low in operation efficiency.
Although connecting machines have been used to unite respective conductors of a multicore round or flat cable with respective contacts or connectors, these machines unite respective conductors and contacts or connectors one by one. That is, these machines have had no devices for positioning respective conductors of a multicore cable so that it is necessary to repeat the connecting operation as many as the number of conductors of the cable. Thus, the larger the number of conductors, the longer the operation time, increasing the connecting cost.